New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

"My young master...my mistress wishes for you to make another charcoal stove. We would appreciate your help."

I wonder if I can leave Youzhou City openly with this token?

The thought of hiding the token was fleeting, but Tang Qian immediately dismissed it. He straightened up and didn't reach out to take it: "What you're saying isn't difficult, but General Wanyan has already warned me that iron ore is for military supplies. If we keep using it for private purposes, I'm afraid I'll lose my life. There are other ways to keep warm besides building charcoal stoves. If you agree, I can use another, better method."

"Oh? There's an even better way?" Upon hearing this, the girl's eyes lit up. Having lived in a cold and harsh place for a long time, she had long been fed up with the biting winds and frozen landscapes every winter. Tang Qian's actions immediately piqued her interest. "Tell me about it."

"This method is a bit troublesome; it requires some modifications to Miss's bedroom..."

Unfortunately, before Tang Qian could finish speaking, the girl waved her hand and said, "I was planning to make a charcoal stove as a gift for my elder sister. Her wedding is coming up soon, and she is far away in Liaoyang. If I go there now, I'm afraid it will be too late."

Tang Qian touched his nose and gave a wry smile: "It seems I have no choice but to go to the Youzhou Military Supplies Office again."

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency. I will handle Wanyan Xun's affairs. This charcoal stove was specially made as a congratulatory gift, so its craftsmanship must be excellent. As for the materials, you can just take my token to get them. If anyone is foolish enough to talk too much, just mention my name, Wanyan Xi."

Tang Qian stood up and respectfully accepted the token from Miss Xiao Li: "Miss, rest assured, I will do my best."

The two bid farewell and went out, soon arriving at the main street outside the command post. Xiao Qi followed closely behind Tang Qian, her hands busy studying the waist token that would allow them to pass through without hindrance: "Young Master, do you think we can go back to the Great Song Dynasty if we take this token out of the city?"

“I did think about that just now.” Tang Qian shook his head, rejecting Xiao Qi’s suggestion. “The weather is getting colder and colder. On the way to Youzhou, I was worried that the escaped delegation would be trapped in the mountains and freeze to death. Now it’s even more impossible. If we really want to escape, we’ll have to wait until next spring when the flowers bloom. As for this token, do you think that Wan Yanxi would let us keep it for so long?”

In any case, the lives of myself and Xiao Qi, master and servant, have been temporarily saved.

If he couldn't handle a little girl who was only a teenager, Tang Qian felt he had no face to talk about getting away unscathed, so he might as well just slit his own throat.

Stepping out of the city lord's mansion and onto the main street, Tang Qian walked towards the Youzhou military supply depot, his mind still preoccupied with how to win over the Jin noblewoman named Wanyan Xi, hoping she would lend a helping hand at a crucial moment.

Because he was multitasking, he didn't notice a black figure suddenly rushing out from around the corner of the street ahead. The figure was looking behind him as it ran, seemingly panicked and disoriented. Caught off guard, the two collided head-on.

With Xiao Qi supporting him from behind, Tang Qian only staggered back a couple of steps but was not seriously injured. The two of them exclaimed in surprise, then steadied themselves. They looked at the person they had collided with, who rolled a few times on the snow-covered and muddy road before struggling to sit up. The person looked at Tang Qian with eyes full of anger.

The other person's eyes were filled with hostility, but Tang Qian dared not provoke them in any way. Although the other person's ragged clothes and unkempt appearance meant they were not someone he could not afford to offend, this was not the capital of the Great Song Dynasty where he could act arrogantly.

Adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble, Tang Qian bowed to the other party to express his apology. He then touched the money pouch at his waist, took out a piece of silver weighing about two qian (approximately 6.5 grams), and threw it into the other party's arms. Afterward, he planned to take Xiao Qi and go around to another place.

Tang Qian intended to downplay the incident, but the other party didn't seem to intend to let the two of them leave so easily. Suddenly, the beggar-looking man pounced and grabbed Tang Qian's right leg with both hands, while starting a series of hand gestures and gesturing wildly. He also mumbled a long string of words in Jin language. In a short while, more than a dozen burly men emerged from the nearby streets and alleys and surrounded the three of them.

Although Tang Qian couldn't understand what they were saying, he could still see the situation clearly. The little beggar had deliberately bumped into him, and his handling of the situation made them think that he had caught a soft target. So many people had suddenly appeared, just to extort money from him.

Looking at his own clothes, Tang Qian let out a wry smile. No wonder these people were so fearless; they had recognized his identity as a Song person.

Reaching out to stop Xiao Qi, who had already started rolling up his sleeves and was about to make a move, Tang Qian cupped his hands towards the group and asked, "Could you gentlemen please send one of you out to speak with me?"

Tang Qian stood ramrod straight, trying his best to appear mysterious and inscrutable, hoping to deter the other party. Unfortunately, the thugs didn't understand what he was talking about at all. Amidst their furious shouting, the circle surrounding the two men shrank further, and two of them even reached out to shove Tang Qian's shoulders, their spittle carrying a foul odor nearly spraying onto his face.

Seeing that the leader had made a move, the remaining accomplices did not hesitate and started throwing punches at Tang Qian and his companion. In just a moment, Tang Qian was hit several times in the chest and back. Even though Xiao Qi was agile, he was surrounded and lost his advantage of maneuvering. He could only passively take the beating and could not make any counterattacks. The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Just as Tang Qian was about to spend money to avoid trouble and took out his money bag to throw into the air to escape, a slightly immature but extremely penetrating voice suddenly rang out. He didn't know what the person shouted, but Tang Qian felt all the fists that were raining down on him suddenly disappear. After a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps, the surroundings quickly returned to silence.

Tang Qian lowered his hands from his head and looked up. Sure enough, the group of beggars had all scattered like birds and beasts, leaving not a trace. Only the faint pain in his arm proved that what had just happened was not fake.

"What are you still standing there for? Get out of here immediately. If those people notice something is wrong and come back, I won't be able to help you a second time."

Not far away, at the corner of the wall, a still somewhat disheveled boy poked half his head out. He looked around warily before beckoning to Tang Qian and Xiao Qi, who were still in a daze, signaling them to leave quickly to avoid being surrounded by those people again.

Tang Qian wasn't in a hurry to leave. He had just been caught off guard by the sudden attack. This place wasn't too far from the city lord's mansion, so even if those people came back, they could easily escape.

After tidying his clothes slightly, Tang Qian bowed slightly to the young man and said, "Thank you for your kind help, brother."

"Just doing what I could to stop injustice." The young man waved his hand casually. "I just can't stand the arrogance of those people."

Tang Qian handed the loose silver he had originally intended to use to resolve the matter to the young man, wanting to express his gratitude. Unexpectedly, the young man suddenly glared at him: "What? Do you really think I'm a beggar?"

He then flicked his sleeve, gave a cold snort, turned and left without lingering for a moment.

"Please wait, sir."

Just as he was about to walk out of the alley and disappear around the corner, he heard Tang Qian's slightly anxious voice behind him.

The boy stopped impatiently, his face still somewhat gloomy. However, due to the distance between them, Tang Qian did not see the faint, secret smile that appeared on his lips.

"Does Your Excellency have any further instructions?"

Tang Qian and Xiao Qi jogged up to the young man: "We've just arrived in Youzhou, and the language barrier has caused quite a few laughs. Take what just happened, for example. If someone had mediated, we wouldn't have gotten beaten up. So, I'd like to ask you to temporarily act as my translator... uh... to help me communicate with the Jin people. I wonder if you could help me..."

Seeing Tang Qian hand over the silver again, the young man frowned and pondered for a moment before taking it: "I'm just doing this little favor since I have nothing else to do, but this doesn't count as begging."